The news that Jeff Blake is departing his position as Chairman of Sony Pictures and Vice-Chairman of Worldwide Marketing and Distribution for the company after 22 years leaves the film industry, at least until his future plans are announced, without one its most revered and honorable executives. Tough, smart, a workhorse even by the standards of Hollywood, he remained true to the values and talents I first saw when we first knew each other at Northwestern University in the early 1970s. In a brief phone call today, Blake seems in a good place.